Khurram Saeed and Laura Incalcaterra

ONLINE

Workers at a bus company fighting for a $70 million county contract have donated tens of thousands of dollars to a lawmaker seeking to become Rockland’s next county executive.

A review of state campaign finance records by The Journal News shows $36,000 donated by nine people all associated with Valley Cottage businessman Richard Brega. Three of the donors live outside the county — two in Westchester and one in New Jersey.

The money went to Rockland County Legislator Ilan Schoenberger, who is seeking the Democratic Party line in the Sept. 10 primary. He received more than $116,000 from January to July, with the Brega-related contributions representing 31 percent of the money he collected during those seven months.

The nine donors include a parts manager, an assistant maintenance manager, two service advisers, an accounts manager, a transportation manager, the wife of the maintenance manager, an IT consultant and the mother-in-law of Brega’s brother. The information about the contributors was verified by a person with direct knowledge of the company, as well as through county documents, the Brega website, social media and information listed on professional group websites.

Each person donated $4,000 under their own name, with all of the money contributed on two dates in April. Unlike federal campaign law, state rules do not require a person to list employer information when they contribute to a political campaign.

Brega contributed just $125 to Schoenberger through one of his companies, Brega DOT Maintenance Corp., in December. So far this year, his company has given $2,550 to four candidates, well below the $5,000 limit allowed for corporations. He has made no personal donations, according to state records.

Brega also owns Brega Transport Corp., which last year was awarded a controversial contract by the Rockland County Legislature to run the Tappan Zee Express and TOR buses. The award has been challenged by a rival bidder, with the matter headed to state Supreme Court in Putnam County on Friday.

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The process has dragged on for years over whether the county’s bidding process was fair and if the companies vying for the contract met the county’s standards. Brega’s company was the low bidder by about $6 million and had overwhelming, often unanimous support from Rockland’s 17 legislators, who had grown frustrated at the pace of proceedings. One competitor has dropped out but the current operator, Coach USA, wants the new contract thrown out, claiming that Brega lacks the expertise to run the buses and has underpriced his bid, which Coach says will cost taxpayers more in the long run. Coach is suing the county and Brega to restart the bid process.

Brega, of Tomkins Cove, did not respond this week to texts, messages left on his cellphone or during a visit to his office. His lawyer, Burton Dorfman, said he had no knowledge of the donations on Tuesday and did not respond to a message left Wednesday.

Brega employs about 120 people between his two companies.

Bobbi Ann Shanahan, a service adviser at Brega DOT, said “No comment” when asked Tuesday about her $4,000 contribution to Schoenberger in April. That was $165 below the limit that donors like her can give in the Democratic primary for Rockland County executive, according to the Rockland Board of Elections.

Phone messages for each donor, except one whose number was not available, were not returned.

Schoenberger told The Journal News on Wednesday that many people have contributed to his campaign. He declined to specifically comment on the donations from the people connected to Brega.

“Some have contributed more, some have contributed less,” Schoenberger said. “I’m thankful for the support I get from people who contribute to my campaign and from people who are working to get me elected.”

According to the candidates’ latest primary financial disclosure forms, Schoenberger has about $246,000 in his campaign war chest. His opponent, former Spring Valley Village Justice David Fried, has nearly $78,000. Vladimir Leon, who is attempting a write-in campaign, has $100, state records show.

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In most places, it would be illegal if employees were coerced to make a contribution or if they were reimbursed for the donation, Richard Briffault, the Joseph P. Chamberlain professor of legislation at Columbia Law School, said.

In some cases, the head of a company has been known to make it clear to employees that one candidate would be better than another for the company’s bottom line and to suggest they support that person. Briffault, an expert in campaign finance, spoke in general about the role of donations in an election.

Briffault said that “straw donations” undermine the system because they are illegal and because they allow wealthy donors to curry favor.

“If somebody’s a very large donor, there’s a potential that a candidate, if elected, will be very grateful,” Briffault said.

The amount of a donation in relationship to a worker’s salary can reveal potential conflict if it is significantly out of scale, he said.

But he noted the mere fact that people make large contributions proves nothing.

Schoenberger is not the only candidate to receive money from Brega and his associates.

In the past year, Brega DOT has given nearly $900 to County Legislator Ed Day, the Republican candidate for Rockland County executive.

Brega also contributed more than $800 in April to Republican Legislator Frank Sparaco, who represents the district that is home to the bus companies. Sparaco, like Schoenberger, was one of the lawmakers who publicly backed Brega’s efforts to secure the lucrative five-year contract to run the bus system.

Paul Dursi, a Brega parts manager who was among those who donated $4,000 to Schoenberger in April, made his largest donation this year to the Rockland County Independence Party, to which he gave $5,000 in May. A month later, he donated $100 directly to Sparaco, who controls the Independence Party.

A spokesman for the state Board of Elections, John Conklin, said if someone was concerned about a donation, they could file a complaint with a local or the state election board. He said the state board would conduct a review and if criminality was evident, the case would be referred to the local district attorney’s office. He also said concerned citizens could directly contact their local district attorney.